Threads of a Serenade

Swaying before the moon
Are the twining tendrils of fate
Bearing tears as flowers
Their scent
Tasted with the tongue
A tormented heart
The spider skids between
The sentries
Weaving its web of love
In the quivering night
The lover's fate
Like a dewdrop that trembles
So softly upon a leaf
Uncertainly
Let the billows of time
Unwind with the wind
Let the nightingale sing
Its song of hope
May we taste the divine blossom

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Editor’s Note

The number one question our editors receive is—what do the editors and judges look for when judging the contest? The number one answer we give is creativity. Unlike prose, writing composed in everyday language, poetry is considered a creative art and requires a different type of effort and a certain level of depth. Of the thousands of poems entered in each contest, the ones that catch our judges’ eyes are the ones that remove us, even just slightly, from the scope of everyday life by using language that is interesting, specific, vivid, obscure, compelling, figurative, and so on. Oftentimes, poems are pulled aside for a second look based simply on certain words that intrigued the reader. So first and foremost, be sure your poetry is written using creative language. Take general ideas and make them personal. In his infamous book De/Compositions: 101 Good Poems Gone Wrong, W. D. Snodgrass imparts, “We cannot honestly discuss or represent our lives, any more than our poems, without using ideational language.”